At least 43 people shot in Chicago over the weekend. Why is the media silent?

CHICAGO, Ill. – Initial reports from a bloody weekend in Chicago show that at least 43 people were shot, with eight victims passing away from their injuries.

And yet, the national media is barely talking about it. Most outlets seem to love to immediately jump on the stories of mass shooters and their violent rampages, but when so many people are being killed each week in an area of the country that boasts some of the toughest gun laws, they seem to stay silent.

Fox reported that two of the fatal shootings happened within 20 minutes of each other on Sunday. In those instances, a 15-year-old boy named Dovantae Jackson was shot on his street. Then, shortly after, a man and a woman were shot at a party on the South Side. The man was rushed to the hospital where he later died.

People are being gunned down in Chicago… yet the media is staying silent. (Flickr)

A drive-by shooting took the life of one man and severely injured another later on Sunday, sources say. A day earlier, a suspect opened fire on a group of people sitting on the front porch of a home. Police say that two men died and another three were injured.

An 18-year-old was shot and killed early on Saturday while socializing with a group of friends outside.

Last year during Labor Day weekend, 23 people were shot, including four deaths.

8 people murdered in Chicago this weekend, I,600 shot so far this year. This doesn’t have to happen. It’s the result of failed political ideas and pandering rather than caring.

Back in June, Chicago experienced its bloodiest weekend of the year… so far.

Reports compiled from that weekend show a staggering 50 people shot, with 10 of those shootings becoming fatalities, according to Chicago Police.

A recent tweet from Chicago Police Chief Communications Officer Anthony Guglielmi painted the picture of what police are up against in Chicago. And it isn’t pretty.

Below is the sound that Chicago needs to change its ways on how we handle gun offenders. Audio from the tragic shooting at 18th & Kildare yesterday shows that criminals have no deterrent to carrying illegal guns in our city and this is what residents and police are up against. pic.twitter.com/VwixZwR0Vb

The Chicago Tribune published a piece about the spring of violence that followed Memorial Day Weekend, which boasted another 43 reported shootings. Targeted patrols worked together to try and pull illegal guns off the street.

“Those efforts resulted in 19 arrests on gun-related charges and 81 illegal weapons seized since Friday evening,” Anthony Guglielmi said back in June. “Several people of interest are also being questioned in relation to some of our incidents and detectives have good video leads in others.”

The age to purchase a firearm is 21. The state requires gun owners to obtain licenses and face background checks as well as imposing waiting periods on firearms purchases. Judges can take guns away from owners who are deemed to be a threat to themselves or others. And recent legislation aims to begin a fingerprinting database of all gun owners in the state.

AP News reported that from 2013 to 2016, almost 7,000 illegal guns were recovered each year in Chicago, according to the city’s Gun Trace Report . In 2017, the total was 7,932, according to the Chicago police. As of Dec. 6, the total for 2018 was 8,309, and police say that could surpass 10,000 by year’s end.

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